The treaty of Crimea's accession to Russia "was signed
yesterday… And all, who appealed to the Federal Migration Service
in the Crimea, will receive their passports. This work has
started. Some of the passports were issued today,” said
Konstantin Romodanovsky, the head of the Federal Migration
Service, as cited by Itar-Tass news agency.

The official did not elaborate on how or on what terms the
Crimeans who do not wish to renounce their Ukrainian citizenship
will live and work in the peninsula.

However, Romodanovsky said Russia is concerned by symptoms of a
growing “humanitarian catastrophe” in Ukraine.

“As a sign, the number of elderly people and children
entering Russia has grown twice as big,” he said. He did not
give the periods of which he was comparing, or exact figures.

More than that, Russia is worried by the growing number of
Ukrainians crossing the Russian border without any clear purpose
such as work.

“We shared those concerns with the office management of the
UN High Commissioner for Refugees. To some extent, our concerns
were understood and we began an interaction with the
organization,” Romodanovsky stressed.

Also on Wednesday, Vladimir Putin has tasked the Labor Ministry
with increasing the pensions of Crimeans to the Russian level as
soon as possible, which will see benefits in the peninsula
doubling.

“All citizens of Russia must be placed in the same
conditions. How you do it is your business. Think it over with
State Duma deputies and do it. There must be no delays. Do it as
soon as possible,” the president told labor minister Maksim
Topilin.

According to Topilin, there are currently 677,000 pensioners in
Crimea and Sevastopol, who have been receiving around 1,600
hryvnas (around US$160) from the Ukrainian state.

“This is significantly lower than the average in
Russia,” he stressed, adding that the difference in the
level of pensions with Ukraine is about two times in Russia’s
favor.

The minister assured Putin that delay-free payment of pensions in
Crimea and Sevastopol will be provided.

Bringing Crimean benefits to Russia's level “will require a
special law” which is currently being developed, Topilin said.

The head of the Federal Migration Service expressed hope that
Russia and the UN, together, will be able to find a way to
minimize the negative consequences of the unstable situation in
Ukraine.

Meanwhile, funds from the Russian budget will be used to help
Crimea and Sevastopol solve its economic problems, the country’s
finance minister, Anton Siluanov, announced.

"The total deficit on the budget of Sevastopol and Crimea in
2014 is 55 billion roubles (around $1.5 billion),” Siluanov
is cited by RIA-Novosti news agency.

The minister specially stressed that the National Welfare Fund
won’t be affected as the money for the Crimea will be taken from
the unallocated reserve of the Russian budget.

On March 16, Crimea held a referendum, in which over 96 percent
of its citizens voted to join Russia. Two days later, the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, a city with a
special status, became federal objects of the Russian Federation.